Improvement in game apparatus



W. J. LYMAN. Game Apparatus.

Patented No\ 13, I877.

N. PETERS, PMOYO-LITHOGRAF UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J. LYMAN, OF EAST HAMPTON MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO ARTHUR W. RICE, OF NEW HAVEN, CONN.

' IMPROVEMENT IN GAME APPARATUS.

- Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 196,982, dated November 13, 1877; application filed August 20, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM J. LYMAN, of East Hampton, Hampshire county, State of Massachusetts, have invented a new Toy Game, of which the following is a specification:

This invention consists more particularly in I a combination ofa peculiar target with a board.

of peculiar structure upon the general principle of the bagatelleboard, and its object is to present a game affording a large ground for skill, and at the same time one affected by many chances.

This invention'is fully illustrated in the accompanyin g drawings, in which- Figure I is a plan view of the board having the target at one end. Fig. II is a cross-section at m 00 of Fig. I, to show a front elevation of the target; and Fig. III is a rear view of the target.

B is a board, having on its face and at one end the target 0, and at the other a series of compartments, f, while a portion or all of the intermediate space is occupied by pins 61 and cups 6, arranged to leave an open V-shaped space, having its apex at b, and its base formed by the front of thetarget, as shown in Fig. I.

Itwill be seen that a ball placed at b can be shot by the hand or propelled by a cue to any point on the face of the target '0 without having its passage obstructed by any of the pins 01 or cups 0, and that if shot obliquely from the point 1) toward either side of target 0, it will, in returning by its own gravity, encounter some of the pinsd, to be diverted, as chance may direct, into one of the cups or re ceptacles c in the face of the board, or into one of those marked f at the lower end.

The target 0 is constructed upon the principle of a number of passages, h, leading from the board to the lower ends -of figures representing men, which are hinged upon a support in such manner that the impact of the projectile upon said lower ends will throw forward and downward the tops of the men or figures D. Y

The degree of the swinging motion allowed to men D may be varied to produce the results of entirely inverting the men over upon the top of the target 0, or of causing the top of a man, D, to throw from the top surface of the target a ball or die, to increase the element of chance in the game by releasing a ball to find a numbered receptacle, or throwing a die to have the number upon its upper face presented for counting.

Though in practice the entire target will preferably be made to have its men D perform one of the functions above described, I have shown in the drawing the two placed side by side to better illustrate the principle involved.

In construction I prefer to form the target 0 of a block of wood, to rest upon the bed B, at its upper end, and have the passages it cut therethrough, as seen in Fig. II, and to radiate from the point I), in order that the walls of the passages may oppose no resistance to the a ball once entering.

The men D are hinged, each upon a separate staple, to the back of the block, or a continuous wire may serve as a common staple, care being taken to so balance the men that they may be sensitive to the blow of the ball. In the drawings one man is shown inverted by the projectile, and a die is shown in position to be thrown off by the movement of its adjacent man.

When the men D are arranged to throw off a marble or die, I place pins 9 in front of the partitions, between passages h, to prevent the ball from hitting the face of the target to jar it, and, consequently, displace the die or marble resting thereon.

I thus construct a game apparatus in which an infinite number of chances exist, and that has at the same time great room for the employment of skill.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In combination with the board B and target 0, the pins 61 and cups 0, arranged as described, to leave a V-shaped space having its apex at b, and its base formed by the front of the target, as and for the pimpose set forth.

2. In combination with the board B, the target C, formed of a block having the figures D hinged at its rear side, capable of being'swung over by the ball passing through apertures h therein, and arranged to radiate from the point b, substantially as shown and described.

WM. J. LYMAN.

Witnesses R. F. HYDE, S. S. BAILEY. 

